urgent network problems

[RadioHead84]

Here is the equipment i am dealing with...

3 windows XP systems
1 Mac OS 9 i believe
1 BEFSR41 Linksys router..
1 DSL Modem
Ok I have two seprate problems...

1. First off the computers will only recognize that the DSL connection when the DSL modem is connected to a regular port on the router. There is WAN port on the routher which is where it should be plugged into but it doestn work when i do that. Also there are 5 ports on the back no including the WAN port. The 5th port doesnt seem to want to work.

2. All three of the windows systems are working fine. The 4th mac isnt recognizing it. The mac will see the connection for a minute when i change settings sometimes but it will always drop it. How do i get the mac to get on the network and see the DSL connection.

I really need to fix this or my roomates will kill me.

Thx a lot!

 

[BHeemsoth]

The 5th port that you are talking about is an uplink port which is meant to go from a router to a hub or switch. If the uplink port is in use, on most routers it terminates the functionality of one of the normal ports.

 

[LanFear]

Doublecheck that all cables being used are 10/100 cat5 or better. Start by connecting the dsl modem to the WAN port. In this scenario, it has to be connected to it. Connect only one computer to the routers LAN1 port. Once the modem and the computer are connected to their respective ports LAN 1-4, power cycle the dsl modem, then the router, one right after the other. Once that's done, open up your browser on the connected computer and try to accees your router. If you can get in, you should be fine. Make sure all computers are set to receive ip addresses automatically, including the MAC. Set up dhcp accordingly and make your ip leases permanent if that's an option. I don't use linksys equipment anymore, so can't remember. After that, connect each computer in order, and release/renew ip's if needed. If it's not working, reset the router to it's default settings and start over from the beginning and go back through the steps. If it still doesn't work, throw that piece of crap in the garbage and go by an SMC barricade. The 5th port is an uplink port and should only be used to connect additional hubs or switches.

 

[RadioHead84]

Ok thx ill try that. But for some reason the WAN port never seemed to work but ill try again. Do i need to do anything special to activate the WAN port?

Also how do you rlease renew on a MAC..never tried before.

 

[RadioHead84]

I cant even get the Window machines to see the connection when the DSL is hooked up to the router through the WAN port.

i even tried changing the IP of the router to xxx.xxx.xxx.2 becuase the DSL modem was using the same IP the router was.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Did you ever go into the router setup and give it the information about the DSL modem (username / password)? If you never did that, the router doesn't know how to connect to your internet service provider.

 

[RadioHead84]

there is a password for the router..but i dont think i need a password for the DSL modem

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: RadioHead84
there is a password for the router..but i dont think i need a password for the DSL modem

Hmm, you might check the manual for the router (at the website if you've lost it) to see what they say to do.

I'm using a combination DSL + router at home so my setup is different, maybe someone else here with the normal DSL + router setup like yours can chime in and say what setup they needed.

 

[LanFear]

Like i said, don't use all 4 computers at once, start with one machine, if you get one working, they all should follow suit. You are not release/renewing MAC addresses, that's a hardcoded id built into your dsl modem,router, and LAN adapters. You need to make sure your router is using the right one, most likely the mac address of your dsl modem. There's a section inside the routers configuration area that will let you change it. Your isp gives you a real, routable ip address, should be under the WAN IP heading in your routers connection status menu. The router takes that real ip and does what's called Network Address Translation, it uses a non-routable(PRIVATE) ip address as it's own ip, and then distributes other private ip addresses to all connected computers via the routers dhcp scheme. All requests are sent to the router and out your real ip address to the net, email or whatever. Your routers ip address is 192.168.xxx.xxx whatever you changed it to. It will distribute private ip addresses on the same subnet to all connected computers via dhcp. So if your router is 192.168.0.2 then your dhcp will distribute 192.168.0.3 - 192.168.0.xxx to whatever the dhcp scope/range is you specified. Connect dsl modem to WAN, and run one xp machine to LAN1. Power cycle the dsl modem, then the router. Reboot the XP machine. Try to browse the internet. If you can't, open browser, http://192.168.xxx.xxx whatever the router's ip address is you changed it to. Login, go to connection status, if it says connected GOOD, if it says disconnected BAD. Check to see what MAC address the router is using, should be your dsl modem, which should have a sticker on it telling you what it is. Make sure the dsl user account info is plugged in , under PPPOE setup section. Go to connection status and release/renew. Hopefully it will say connected, and you'll be ok. Someone give me a beer!

 

[LanFear]

Dave is right, every dsl account that i've ever seen has a user id and password that must be plugged into the PPPOE portion of the routers configuration, dsl is not like cable, you need to authenticate to them so they know who you are. If that info is not plugged in, and you don't have that info available, then it doesn't matter what you do, you won't be able to connect. If that's the case, then your roomates are gonna throw a blanket party.

 

[RadioHead84]

hmm i tried a few diffrent things..and while id ont know which one of the things got it to work..it is now working on my computer lol.

Next up i have to make sure its working onthe mac. I cant check right now since they are asleep but should i have to do anything special. It didtn seem to want to connect before and i know nothing about macs.

 

[LanFear]

No

 

[fuzzynavel]

BURN THE MAC!!!!! BURN THE MAC BURN THE MAC BURN THE MAC!!!

Sorry don't know what came over me!

 

[RadioHead84]

It works!

The mac is on and everything!

Thx everyone